Latymer Community Church and Bramley Road New Homes
Latymer Community Church and Bramley Road new homes is one of the sites included in the Phase 3 of our New Homes Delivery Programme.
We have had to pause while we review the scheme to look at how viable it is in the light of the economy.
Rising inflation and costs are a key challenge for everyone involved in building new homes. We are still committed to building 600 new homes across the borough and most importantly half of which will be for social rent, but we are looking at the most cost-effective way to do this.
Prior to pausing the scheme, we had been in discussions with Latymer Community Church about providing a brand new and improved community church on its existing site on Bramley Road alongside new homes and community improvements such as a permanent children’s drop-in Stay and Play facility.
We carried out two rounds of community consultation seeking the views of local residents on the plans for the Latymer Community Church and Bramley Road New Homes site. You can find out more about these consultations on this web page.
What's happened so far?
- Round 2 community engagement events
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The second round of community engagement events has now been completed and the consultation closed. We held two engagement sessions in July 2022, one in-person and one online, to provide details about the proposed scheme and to ask for your views and feedback. We also held a session with Silchester Residents’ Association. Thanks to everyone who attended and who completed the online survey.
We received a total of 57 surveys and 30 stakeholders attended across the three discussion sessions.
Read the full report from the second round of consultation.
The proposals for the Latymer Community Church and Bramley Road new homes are outlined in this video presentation.
Know someone who can’t get online?
If you know someone who is unable to access the internet, we can arrange for a hard copy of the presentation to be sent to them by post. Please call 07739 317294 Monday to Friday, between 9am and 5pm.
Contact us
For all other enquiries, please contact us at [email protected]
- Round 1 community engagement feedback
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The first round of community engagement events has now been completed and the consultation closed. We held two engagement sessions in December 2021, one in-person and one online, to provide details about the proposed scheme and to ask for your views and feedback. Thanks to everyone who attended and who completed the online survey.
Headline findings from the first round of engagement sessions
- We received 22 competed surveys and 25 residents attended the two engagement sessions – one face to face and the other online.
Thoughts on the overall scheme
- The vast majority (19 of 22) supported a scheme that re-provides the existing Latymer Community Church and provides improved community facilities.
- Again 19 of 22 respondents supported the inclusion of drop-in stay and play provision as part of the proposal.
- The majority (18 of 22) supported plans to provide new social housing, key worker housing and open market homes to rent on the site.
Thoughts on the types of housing
- The most popular size of property respondents would like to see on the site was two bedroom properties (16), followed by one bedroom properties (15) and three bedroom properties (13).
Thoughts on the building height
- The majority (18 of 22) felt the proposed building height (ground plus six floors) was about right.
- However, four respondents felt the building would be too tall.
Thoughts on Landscaping, fencing and community garden
- The majority (20 of 22) supported the proposed approach to landscaping on the site.
- Most (18) would like to see existing fencing and railings removed or reconfigured to improve pedestrian access through the area and to green spaces as part of the development.
- The majority (17) would also like to see improvements to the enhanced community garden area.
Read the full report from the first round of consultation
The proposals for the Latymer Community Church and Bramley Road new homes are outlined in this video presentation and slides. We encourage you to watch the video to find out more.
Presentation video
Presentation slidesKnow someone who can’t get online?
If you know someone who is unable to access the internet, we can arrange for a hard copy of the presentation to be sent to them by post. Please call 07739 317294 Monday to Friday, between 9am and 5pm.
Contact us
For all other enquiries, please contact us at [email protected]
Latymer Community Church and Bramley new homes questions and answers (FAQs)
- What is included in the Latymer site?
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The potential site area includes the existing Latymer Community Church which has been acquired by the Council, together with the Council land adjacent to the east of the church. This land also has existing stakeholders who use part of the Council land as a Community Kitchen Garden, as well as orchard and open areas which are managed by the Council’s Housing Management team.
- How many homes will be built on the site?
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Consultation on these plans are ongoing but we think we can build a minimum of 25 new homes on the Laytmer site, more than half of which will be for social rent and key workers.
- What is social rent and is this affordable?
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At least 50 per cent of the homes on this site are proposed to be provided at social rent (affordable housing for rent) or for key workers which would be at an agreed level below market rent. Kensington and Chelsea Council will retain ownership of all of the properties.
- Why are you not building 100% social rent homes?
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Some homes for open market rent are required in order to fund the building of the social rent housing on the site. The current intention is that the open market rent homes would be retained on a long term basis by the Council for renting purposes and not sold.
- What is the existing social housing situation in Kensington and Chelsea?
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There is a severe shortage of social homes in the borough and while demand rises every year, the number of available homes gets smaller. Even high-priority residents are likely to have to wait five years for a home, or even longer for three-bedroom and larger properties.
- How will the homes be allocated?
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The new homes would be allocated via our Housing Register.
- Will the new church be larger than the old church?
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The design continues to evolve and we are working with church representatives on this. At present the new church space is shown as being split over two, floors-ground and first, in order to meet their requirements for improved, more efficient and accessible facilities.
- Why is there a need for a new church?
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The Council was approached by the previous owners and Latymer Community Church to collaborate on re-developing the church as well as providing additional, much needed community facilities. The existing church building is dated and with increasing need of repairs and maintenance, so the new building would also safeguard this respected and well-used facility for the future.
- What community facilities will be provided as part of the development?
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New accessible community church facilities, Stay & Play space to serve local children and an improved and enhanced community garden. There is also the potential for use of church facilities by other organisations including the established ‘240 project’ which is being explored with the church.
- How will you mitigate against pollution?
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The impact of noise and pollution will be reduced by locating the main opening residential windows and terraces so that they face west, east and south away from the Westway. The internal air quality will be controlled by the use of mechanical ventilation. We will also strive to use environmentally friendly alternatives for heating such as air source heat pumps.
- What plans do you have to improve the Hope Gardens?
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The landscape design approach aims to respect and enhance accessibility and improved visibility to the existing Hope Garden area. We are working with local representatives to ensure there is collaborative approach.
- What plans do you have for the Community Kitchen Garden area?
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The existing community garden space, used by local residents as an allotment garden, will be re-provided and enhanced with an increased number of beds; as well as providing a secure storage area and water supply.
Alongside this, a number of the young trees within the existing orchard area will be retained or replaced/relocated to maintain the same number of trees.
- How are you consulting residents and other local stakeholders?
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There will be three rounds of engagement with the community and local stakeholders for the Latymer site. The first round of consultation was launched on 6 December 2021 and ran until 17 January 2022. The results of the first round of consultation can be found on this page.
We launched the second round of consultation in July 2022 which will run for a minimum of six weeks. As part of this consultation we will be holding a face-to-face session and an online session where residents can find out more about the plans and give us their views. There will also be a series of focus groups held by an independent engagement specialist.
The third round of consultation will provide us with an opportunity to showcase the final designs, that have been developed after taking on board the community input. Residents and other local stakeholders will also be able to formally comment as part of the planning process once an application is submitted.
For more information about the plans, you can contact us directly via email at [email protected]
- What are the timescales for this new homes project?
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Depending on timing of the planning process, the intention would be start building in 2023.
- How is the this scheme being funded?
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This scheme is being funded by the Council.
- Will the new homes be environmentally-friendly?
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The new homes are to be designed and constructed within the framework set by the Council’s fuel poverty, housing improvement and carbon emission reduction objectives. We have set a target for the Council’s operations to be net zero carbon by 2030 and for the borough to be carbon neutral by 2040. In relation to the design of the homes, emphasis is being placed on sustainability, for example enhanced insulation to reduce fuel bills, heating, hot water sources and careful use of building materials.
- Who are the architects for this scheme?
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The architects are Tigg & Coll who are a locally-based practice.
- How will existing services support the new homes?
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The new homes will be owned and managed by the Council who also manage the adjacent Whitstable House. The landscape areas would also be managed by the Council team.